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Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Ten reasons Romero matters

The announcement that Pope Francis has approved a decree that Archbishop Oscar A. Romero is a martyr
presents a challenge for the Church: how to explain to Catholics in the new
millennium the importance of a martyrdom that occurred during a small Third
World country’s civil strife back in the Cold War? [The secret history of the Cause]

Romero is not
only relevant but also urgent for our
time. Here are ten reasons why.

1.Archbishop
Romero represents total fidelity to the Gospel and to the Church. His motto
was “Sentir Con La Iglesia” ("To
Think and Feel With the Church") which meant, first of all, absolute
obedience to and harmony with the Magisterium of the universal Church. Only such
loyalty could lead a conservative and reserved bishop to become “the voice of
the voiceless” because he felt that his pastoral commitment required it, though
he would have to die to fulfill the mandate. This does not mean that every
bishop has to focus on matters of social justice; just on whatever his circumstances
require.

2.Archbishop
Romero is emblematic of the “New Martyrs”. As Benedict XVI pointed out, modern persecutors “more and more seldom explicitly show their
aversion to the Christian faith or to a form of conduct connected with the
Christian virtues, but simulate different reasons, for example, of a political
or social nature.” Seventy of the 82 individuals recognized as martyrs
during Benedict’s pontificate were killed during confusing social upheavals
such as the Spanish Civil War, World War II and crackdowns in authoritarian Communist
regimes. This is the new face of martyrdom in the Third Millennium and Archbishop
Romero, martyred at the altar, is its
foremost representative.

3.Archbishop
Romero is a model of holiness. In his personal life, Romero exemplified the
devotional practices and sound morality of a good Christian. His prayer life inspired
the admiration of his colleagues, and even his critics could not deny his profound
spirituality. Like St. Basil, who lived in an institution housing the poor,
Romero lived in a single room within the confines of a hospice for dying cancer
patients, which gave him great credibility when he challenged society to increased
identification with the poor and suffering.

4.Archbishop
Romero is a peacemaker. Romero completely rejected violence, saying: “We have never
preached violence, except the violence
of love which left Christ nailed to a cross. We have never preached
violence except the violence that we must each do to ourselves to overcome
selfishness and such cruel inequalities among us.” Pope Benedict summarized Romero as “a man of great Christian virtue who worked for peace and against the
dictatorship.”

5.Archbishop
Romero embodies a coherent Christianity. Romero did not abandon traditional
fervor to take up “activism;” rather, he put religion at the center of today’s
problems. Romero was radical from his orthodoxy and transcends simplistic
labels. When he took back a church that had been occupied by the army, he made
reparations for the desecrated hosts and then denounced the abuses against the civilian
population; simultaneously defending Christ in the sacrament, and Christ
present in the poor, highlighting the interrelatedness of the two.

6.Archbishop
Romero challenges us to be a Church that goes forth. Romero said he was a “pastor, who, together with his people, has
learned a beautiful but difficult truth: that our Christian faith does not
separate us from the world, but forces us to become immersed in it; that the
Church is not a fortress, separate from the city; instead, she follows Jesus,
who lived, worked, fought and died in the middle of the city.” We too must
leave the temple and head out to the City, as Pope Francis and Blessed Mother
Teresa have said, to bring Christ out to the world.

7.Archbishop
Romero is a guide for the “preferential option for the poor”. This point is
so obvious that it almost need not be made. The theology of Archbishop Romero sees
the poor not only as recipients of our charity but as sources of our own
enlightenment. As he said it: “From the transcendence
of the gospel we can know what the life of the poor truly is; and by siding
with the poor and trying to help them live, we can know what the eternal truth
of the gospel is.”

8.Archbishop
Romero challenged all parties to work
together for the common good. Both sides of the political spectrum heard
his call to conversion: “if
I am in danger, it could be from both extremes to whom I am a nuisance.”His denunciation of the abuses of the
government and the army are well publicized. Now the world is set to discover
Romero pleas to the guerrillas to refrain from a violent insurrection; to reformers
to avoid banishing God from their political projects; and to all members of
society to be converted to Christ and work for the common good.

9.Archbishop
Romero is a great preacher. As was made evident when Pope Francis quoted Romero in his General Audience, Romero was a
great preacher and evangelist. Pope Benedict said that Romero was a “Pastor
full of love for God” who preached the gospel “fervently”. This explains why Romero’s homilies have been published
and translated into several languages and his years as archbishop produced good fruits of evangelization. [Homiliarium]

10.Archbishop
Romero is recognized beyond the Church. A Jubilee Year Ecumenical Commission
points out that Archbishop Romero has been “recognized beyond confessional boundaries”
as being among the “martyrs and exemplary
confessors of faith, hope and charity,” who could help foster Christian
unity and appeal to the non-Christian world.Recently, Lord Rowan Williams,
the former Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the worldwide Anglican
Communion, called him “one
of the great gifts of God to the whole people of God in the last few decades;
one whose witness and teaching is a legacy for Christians everywhere.”

Each of these
points is relevant to the lives of Christians today and is not limited to the
Salvadoran situation of the 1970s.Each
point also illustrates why Catholics all over the world should celebrate the
beatification of Archbishop Romero and study his life and message so as to put
it into practice.